UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 

BERKELEY,    CAL. 

E.  W.  HILGARD,  Director.  BULLETIN  NO.  10T. 

The  Russian  Thistle  in  California- 


/V\AY,  1895. 


By  CHARLES  H.  SHINW,  Inspector  of  Experiment  Stations. 


,H-'V.'}£" 

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RUSSIAN  THISTLE,  LOOSELY  BRANCHED. 


Prepared  and  printed  at  request  of  tic  Hoard  of  Regents. 


BOTANY  OF  THE  RUSSIAN  THISTLE. 
(See  Plate.) 

Detailed  figures  of  the  Russian  thistle  :  Fig.  a,  branch  of  mature  plant, 
natural  size;  b,  seedling  about  two  weeks  after  germination,  natural  size; 
c,  flower  detached  from  the  axil  and  remaining  suspended  by  minute  hairs, 
in  the  ordinary  inverted  position  on  a  rolling  plant,  enlarged  three-diam- 
eters; d,  flower  viewed  from  above  and  in  front,  showing  the  calyx  lobes 
connivent  into  a  cone-shaped  body,  and  the  large,  membranacous,  spreading 
wings,  enlarged  three  diameters;  e,  seed  with  flower  parts  removed, -'en- 
larged five  diameters;  /,  embryo  removed  from  the  seed,  enlarged  seven 
diameters.  (This  cut,  as  well  as  that  upon  the  cover,  was  furnished  by  the 
Agricultural  Department,  Washington.) 


RUSSIAN  THISTLE— Detailed  Figures. 


THE  RUSSIAN  THISTLE  IN  CALIFORNIA. 


Comparatively  small  modifications  in  the  structure,  habits  and  environ- 
ment of  a  plant  are  capable  of  changing  it  from  a  harmless  dweller  by  the 
wayside  to  a  most  aggressive  enemy  of  the  agriculturist.  The  law  of 
evolution  holds  in  the  case  of  weeds  as  certainly  as  with  flowers  and  fruit; 
Nature  is  producing  new  varieties  of  our  common  garden  weeds  which  every 
now  and  then  appear,  and  temporarily  conquer  wide  territories  of  culti- 
vated land.  The  so-called  Russian  thistle,  or  Russian  cactus,  poetically 
called  by  the  Russian  moujiks, ' 'the  wind  witch"  belongs  to  the  class  of 
"tumble-weeds"  and  furnishes  an  excellent  illustration  of  these  dangerous 
modifications  in  plant  structure. 

When  we  look  for  the  parentage  of  this  Russian  "tumble-weed"  we 
find  that  there  is  a  common  salt- wort,  Salsola  kali,  known  since  early  settle- 
ment along  the  Atlantic  sea-coast,  and  described  by  Linnseus  as  growing  in 
eastern  Europe.  The  Salsola  does  not  spread  rapidly,  and  has  never  de- 
veloped dangerous  qualities  as  a  weed,  so  far  as  studied  in  its  normal  form. 
But  a  sub-species  or  variety, — botanists  have  hardly  determined  which  to 
call  it, — seems  to  have  been  developed  in  the  course  of  centuries  on  the  im- 
mense plains  of  Russia  and  Siberia.  This  sub-species,  slowly  adapting  itself 
to  its  environment,  and  struggling  for  life  with  other  native  *  plants  of  the 
desert  and  the  "black-lands,"  became  the  Salsold  kali  tragus,  the  so-called 
Russian  thistle  of  to-day,  a  weed  whose  eradication  now  taxes  the  best 
energies  of  the  American  farmer  in  Dakota. 

The  Salso/a  belongs  to  the  Chenopodiacew  family.  Among  its  relations 
are  several  species  of  Atriplex,  shrubby  plants  of  the  desert:  the  pig- weed, 
Qhenopodwm;  the  grease- wood,  Sareobatus;  and  another  rolling  weed, 
Gycloloma  atriplicifoMa.  Botanically,  therefore,  it  belongs  with  some 
of  the  worst  weeds  known  to  agriculture.  It  is  an  herbaceous 
annual,  diffusely  branching  from  the  base  and  forming,  under  favorable  con- 
ditions, a  round,  firm  head,  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  feet  high  and  twice 
as  broad.  Its  growth  is  extremely  rapid  and  the  plant  hardens  so  as  to  be 
quite  thorny  as  early  as  August.  Like  the  common  tumble-weeds  of  Cali- 
fornia and  the  Middle  West,  the  season  of  rolling  is  in  the  fall,  when  the 
action  of  the  wind  causes  the  root  to  break  at  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
and  the  plant  is  blown  about  over  many  miles  of  territory  and  often  for 
many  successive  weeks.  The  seeds  are  held  in  place  in  the  axils  of  the 
bracts,  by  two  minute  tufts  of  coiled  hairs,  which  prevent  them  from  falling 
all  at  once.  A  large,  mature  plant  will  sometimes  bear  from  100,000  to 
200,000  seeds,  and  the  method  in  which  these  seeds  are  borne,  as  explained 
above,  distributes  them  over  an  immense  area.  The  popular  literature  of 
the  subject  is  full  of  stories  which  illustrate  this  point.  In  one  instance  a 
farmer  is  said  to  have  labeled  a  Russian  thistle  and  twenty-four  hours  after- 
ward the  plant  was  discovered  sixty  miles  away  ! 

Technical  Description. — The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Division  of  Botany,  Bulletin  No.  15,  (1894)  publishes  the  following  technical 
description  as  drawn  by  Professor  L.  H.  Dewey  : 

"Salsola  Kali  tragus  (L.)  Moq.  in  D.  C.  Prod.  XIII,  2,  187,  (1849).  -  Herbaceous  annual, 
smooth  or  slightly  puberulent;  tap  root  dull  white,  slightly  twisted  near  the  crown; 


—  6  — 

leaves  alternate,  sessile;  those  of  the  young  plant  deciduous,  succulent,  linear  or  sub- 
terete,  3  to  0  cm.  (one  to  two  inches)  long,  spine  pointed,  and  with  narrow,  denticulate 
membranaceous  margins  near  the  base  ;  leaves  of  the  mature  plant  persistent,  each  sub- 
tending to  leaf-like  bracts  and  a  flower  at  intervals  of  2  to  10  mm.  (about  one-twelfth  to 
five-twelfths  of  an  inch),  rigid,  narrowly  ovate,  often  denticulate  near  the  base,  spine- 
pointed,  usually  striped  with  red  like  the  branches,  6  to  10  mm.  (three- twelfths  to  five- 
twelfths  of  an  inch)  long;  bracts,  divergent  like  the  leaves  of  the  mature  plant  in  size 
and  form;  flowers  solitary  and  sessile,  perfect,  apetalous,  about  10  mm.  (five-twelfths  of 
an  inch)  in  diameter;  calyx  membranaceous,  persistant,  inclosing  the  depressed  fruit, 
usually  rose-colored,  gamosepalous,  cleft  nearly  to  the  base  into  five  unequal  divisions 
about  4  mm.,  (one-sixth  of  an  inch)  long,  the  upper  one  broadest,  bearing  on  each  margin 
near  the  base  a  minute  tuft  of  very  slender  coiled  hairs,  the  two  nearest  the  subtending 
leaf  next  in  size,  and  the  lateral  ones  narrow,  each  with  a  beak-like,  connivent  apex,  and 
bearing  mid-way  on  the  back  a  membranaceous  striate,  erose-margined  horizontal  wing 
about  2  mm.  (one-twelfth  of  an  inch)  long,  the  upper  and  two  lower  wings  much  broader 
than  the  lateral  ones;  stamens  five,  about  equaling  the  calyx  lobe;  pistil  simple;  styles 
two,  slender,  about  1  mm.  (one-twenty-fifth  of  an  inch)  long;  seed  one,  obconical,  de- 
pressed, nearly  two  mm.  in  diameter,  dull  gray  or  green,  exalbumenous,  the  thin  seed- 
coat  closely  covering  the  spirally-coiled  embryo;  embryo  green,  slender,  about  12  mm. 
long  when  uncoiled,  with  two  linear,  subterete  cotyledons." 

Introduction  Into  the  United  States. — For  many  years  the  thistle  has 
been  a  destructive  weed  in  the  barley,  wheat  and  flax  fields  of  Russia.  It 
is  even  said  that  large  areas  near  the  Caspian  Sea  have  been  abandoned  to 
this  weed,  which  is  continually  extending  to  new  territory.  In  1873,  some 
impure  flax-seed  brought  from  Russia  and  sold  in  Scotland  township,  Bon 
Homme  county,  South  Dakota,  contained  seeds  of  this  dangerous  tumble- 
weed.  A  map  compiled  by  the  Agricultural  Department  in  1894,  affords  an 
easy  means  of  tracing  its  gradual  extension  from  Bon  Homme.  It  seems  to 
have  taken  it  nearly  ten  years  for  it  to  extend  over  the  adjacent  counties 
of  Yankton,  Douglas,  Davison,  Hutchinson,  Hanson  and  Aurora.  Probably 
during  this  decade  it  really  obtained  foothold  in  a  small  way  over  the  larger 
part  of  North  and  South  Dakota,  but  it  hardly  excited  much  serious  alarm 
until  1880.  After  1884,  its  advance  was  much  more  rapid,  and  by  the  close 
of  that  decade  (1884-94),  it  was  causing  extensive  damage  over  half  the 
area  of  the  Dakotas,  and  was  recognized  as  rapidly  gaining  possession  of 
the  other  half.  Following  along  the  lines  of  travel,  and  carried  downward 
by  irrigation  ditches,  it  had  appeared  in  many  widely-isolated  spots,  each 
one  of  which  was  a  new  center  of  infection.  It  was  already  recognized  as 
extremely  dangerous  in  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Illinois, 
Ohio  and  Colorado.  It  had  reached  the  British  line  on  the  north,  Kansas 
on  the  south,  and  Oregon  on  the  west.  The  G-overnment  reports  from 
which  these  facts  have  been  obtained  state  that  ''the  rapidity  with  which 
the  thistle  has  spread,  both  in  infecting  new  territories,  and  in  thoroughly 
covering  that  already  infected,  far  exceeds  that  of  any  weed  known  in  Am- 
erica. Throughout  about  25,000  square  miles  it  is  very  troublesome,  and  is 
causing  a  large  amount  of  damage."  Other  official  reports  place  the  losses 
of  the  wheat  farmers  of  Dakota  from  this  cause  in  1894  at  over  two  million 
dollars,  a  sum  nearly  equal  to  their  annual  State  and  county  taxes. 

The  local  distribution  of  the  Russian  thistle  is  chiefly  by  means  of  the 
winds.  When  the  ground  is  hard,  the  light  round  masses,  as  previously  noted, 
are  driven  for  miles,  scattering  seeds  along  their  track.  G-usts  of  wind 
beat  them  back  and  forth,  covering  all  the  intermediate  areas  and  some- 
times the  light  seeds  are  blown  from  place  to  place  independently.  But 
this  local  distribution  would  not  of  itself  have  brought  the  weed  to  Califor- 
nia for  many  years  to  come.  The  seeds  are  sent  abroad  in  badly  cleaned 
cereals,  flax  and  other  field  crops,  although  they  are  small,  and  so  easily 
separated,  that  only  gross  carelessness  can  cause  much  danger  from  this 
source.  The  seeds,  however,  are  more  often  carried  long  distances  in  the 
bedding  and  litter  of  stock  cars,  or  in  crevices  in  freight  or  machinery 
packed  on  flat  cars.  Emigrants  may  also  convey  such  seeds  over  consider- 
able areas  in  the  feed  of  their  animals,  and  in  their  wagons.     A  moment's 


thought  will  suggest  almost  an  infinite  number  of  methods  by  which  such 
•seeds  can  be  disseminated,  and  carried  from  one  part  of  the  country  to 
another  in  a  very  brief  space  of  time. 

Injury  Caused  by  the  Plants. — Like  any  other  weeds,  the  thistle,  when 
quite  small,  is  often  eaten  by  stock,  especially  sheep,  but  this  is  for  so  short 
a  period  in  the  flush  of  spring  when  grass  is  abundant  that  its  value  as  a 
forage  plant  is  not  worth  considering.  Whenever  it  becomes  established  it 
excludes  all  other  plants  and  draws  much  nourishment  from  the  soil.  In 
this  it  is  like  all  other  weeds,  but  it  increases  more  rapidly,  hence  taking 
more  space  than  others,  and  it  seldom  decays  on  the  ground  where  it  grows. 
In  fields  of  hay  and  wheat  it  pushes  up  into  long,  straggling  stems  which 
can  not  blow  over  the  country,  but  which  ripen  very  early  in  the  season, 
greatly  lessening  the  value  of  the  crop,  or  sometimes  entirely  ruining  it. 
The  stiff,  thorny  weeds  make  it  hard  to  run  harvesting  machinery,  and  very 
much  annoy  both  horses  and  men.  The  plant  thrives  on  high,  dry  soil,  and 
will  also  grow  on  strong  alkali.  In  fact  it  is  difficult  to  mention  any  kind  of 
soil  unsuitable  to  the  Russian  thistle.  The  injury  done  in  cultivated  crops 
is  less  than  in  wheat  fields,  because  the  thistle  is  easily  killed  by  culti- 
vation. But  the  recognized  presence  of  the  thistle  in  California  should  put 
an  end  forever  to  the  system  of  slovenly  summer  fallows  which  one  so  often 
sees.  Unless  summer-fallowed  land  is  kept  free  from  weeds  all  the  season, 
one  cannot  be  sure  of  having  a  clean  grain  plot  the  following  year. 

Station  Literature  on  the  Subject. — The  first  official  report  respect- 
ing this  tumble-weed  thistle  in  America  was  in  1891  (Report  of  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture).  Therein  the  plant  was  described ;  early  fall  plowing  was 
recommended  as  a  check  to  its  progress,  and  State  legislation  was  sug- 
gested. A  bulletin  was  published  in  1892,  and  a  more  complete  one,  with 
maps  and  illustrations,  appeared  in  1894,  portions  of  which  have  been 
largely  republished,  and  plates  from  which  appear  in  the  present  bulletin. 
Meanwhile  other  students  were  in  the  field.  Professor  Bessey,  of  the  Ne- 
braska Station,  published  a  bulletin  in  1893  on  the  Russian  thistle  in  that 
State,  and  Professor  Bolley  published  another,  from  the  North  Dakota  Ex- 
periment Station.  Professor  Goff  issued  two  bulletins  from  the  Wisconsin 
Experiment  Station.  In  July  lasx  year  the  Minnesota  Experiment  Station 
issued  an  extremely  practical  bulletin,  and  in  September  the  Colorado  Ex- 
periment Station  at  Fort  Collins  followed  with  another  well-illustrated  bul- 
letin. The  Ohio  Experiment  Station,  in  October,  issued  a  bulletin  on  the 
thistle  in  that  State,  describing  its  entry  from  the  West,  and  saying  that  it 
had  obtained  foothold  in  but  one  county,  but  was  rapidly  spreading  to 
others.  The  Iowa  State  Agricultural  Society,  the  leading  newspapers  of 
the  Northwest  and  numbers  of  private  individuals  have  been  publishing  ar- 
ticles upon  the  enemy,  and  sometime  last  year  the  Oregon  Experiment  Sta- 
tion issued  a  bulletin.  Last  winter  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Congress 
providing  for  an  appropriation  of  a  million  dollars  to  destroy  the  thistle,  and 
Congressman  Hansbrough  spoke  in  its  favor,  as  noted  in  volume  26  of  the 
Congressional  Record,  but  the  opinion  prevailed  that  it  was  better  to  de- 
pend upon  the  townships,  counties  and  States  more  directly  interested. 

One  of  the  most  graphic  papers  upon  the  subject  is  a  brief  memoran- 
dum by  Professor  Budd,  of  Ames,  Iowa,  upon  the  u  Russian  Thistle  it  Its 
Native  Home."  He  quotes  from  Professor  Henfrey's  book,  "  The  Vegetation 
of  Europe,  Its  Condition  and  Causes,"  as  follows:  "  On  the  steppes  east  of 
the  Volga  one  curious  thorny  plant  has  attracted  the  attention  of  most 
travelers,  the  'Wind  Witch,"  or  'Leap  the  Field.'  It  forms  a  large,  glob- 
ular mass  of  light,  wiry  branches  interlaced  together,  and  in  autumn  decays 
off   at  the  roots,  the  upper  part  drying.     It  is  then  at  the  mercy  of  the 


autumn  blasts,  and  thousands  of  them  may  be  seen  coursing  over  the 
steppes,  rolling,  dancing  and  leaping,  often  looking  at  a  distance  like  a 
troop  of  wild  horses.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  twenty  or  more  to  become  en- 
tangled into  a  mass  and  roll  away  like  a  huge  giant  in  seven-league  boots.*' 
Professor  Budd  says  that  east  of  the  Volga,  and  south  of  the  Caspian,  he 
met  with  it  everywhere.  In  the  fields  of  cereals  it  was  not  regarded  as 
specially  troublesome,  quite  contrary  to  American  experience,  because  the 
Russian  varieties  of  grain  appear  to  tiller  out  more  than  with  us,  and  are 
sowed  very  early  and  thickly,. so  that  the  thistle  plants  are  said  to  make 
little  progress.  In  this  region  are  found  vast  alkali  tracts  which  are  used 
for  pasturage,  and  here  the  thistle  is  found  mingled  with  wormwoods, 
sages,  mulleins,  true  desert  thistles,  and  a  multitude  of  other  plants.  West 
of  the  Volga,  in  the  black  soil  section,  the  plant  was  found  everywhere,  but 
none  were  permitted  to  ripen  along  the  railways  or  roadsides.  The  officials 
enforced  very  stringent  enactments,  and  have  so  far  protected  the  immense 
sugar-beet  fields.  In  southeast  Orel  and  Kiev  the  sandy  and  the  heavy  clay 
soils  are  alike  said  to  be  overrun  with  the  Russian  thistle.  Professor  Budd 
thinks  that  it  is  a  comparatively  harmless  annual  as  managed  in  most  parts 
of  Russia,  but  he  recognizes  the  fact  that  it  is  a  far  more  serious  pest  in  the 
United  States,  where  people  will  not  accept  the  severe  legislation  of  East 
Europe.  He  says  :  "  It  will  spread  over  the  unf enced  pastures  more  rapidly 
than  any  weed  yet  introduced,  but  in  fenced  regions  it  will  not  in  the  end 
prove  as  serious  a  pest  as  the  Canada  thistle."  The  worst  danger  point,  he 
thinks,  will  be  the  alkaline  plains  of  the  Northwest  and  West.  This  may  be 
considered  as  a  timely  warning  to  the  people  of  the  San  Joaquin  and  Sacra- 
mento valleys. 

A  brief  paper  by  Professor  Bolley,  published  in  March  of  the  present 
year  in  Bulletin  No.  17  of  the  North  Dakota  Experiment  Station,  gives  the 
results  of  experiments  about  the  distribution  of  weed-seed  by  the  winter 
winds.  He  says,  in  speaking  of  the  thistle,  that  those  who  advocate  the  use 
of  hedges  or  fences  to  stop  its  further  encroachments  have  in  mind  only  the 
rolling  character  of  the  weed.  All  weeds,  if  allowed  to  mature,  are  dis- 
tributed to  some  extent  by  the  winter  winds,  as  nearly  all  are  provided  with 
special  appliances,  such  as  vanes,  lint  or  light  pods,  which  assist  in  their 
dissemination.  Professor  Bolley  measured  the  surface  of  an  early  winter 
snow-drift  on  plowed  ground  ten  rods  from  any  standing  weeds.  The  snow 
was  three  inches  deep.  Two  square  feet  ,of  this  drift  contained  thirty-two 
seeds,  representing  nine  species.  In  another  experiment  he  poured  one 
peck  of  mixed  seed  upon  the  crusted  snow  when  a  wind  was  blowing  at  the 
rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour.  Thirty  rods  distant,  at  right  angles,  a  three- 
inch  trench  in  the  snow  served  to  catch  drifting  seed.  In  ten  minutes  many 
seeds  of  all  species  represented  were  in  the  trench,  and  the  lighter  seeds 
had  been  carried  over  it.  Many  similar  experiments  were  carried  on,  and 
the  conclusion  reached  was  that  weed-seed  of  almost  any  size,  especially  the 
thistle,  traveled  for  miles  with  drifting  snow  and  were  buried  in  the  soil 
when  the  snow  melted.  If  the  thistle  is  ever  disseminated  in  the  more  al- 
pine regions  of  California,  the  same  method  of  distribution  will  be  dangerous 
here.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  seeds  will  be  very  easily  blown  long 
distances  over  the  hard  surface  of  our  plains  in  the  autumn,  before  the 
early  rains  cause  the  growth  of  vegetation. 

Repressive  Legislation  Elsewhere. — The  weed  laws  of  the  several 
States  are  seldom  well  enforced,  but  perhaps  the  best  laws  regarding  the  Rus- 
sian thistle  are  those  passed  by  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  of  North  and 
South  Dakota  in  1890  and  1891,  and  still  in  operation.  Similar  provisions 
if  placed  on  the  statute  books  of  California,  and  carried  out  in  every  county 
where  the  thistle  appears,  would  soon  bring  it  under  control.  During  the 
two  years  which  must  elapse  before  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature,  the 


only  remedy  in  California  is  to  be  found  in  prompt  action  by  county  super- 
visors and  iocal  associations. 

The  South  Dakota  law  provides  that  "  Every  person  and  every  corpora- 
tion shall  destroy  on  all  lands  which  he  or  it  may  occupy  all  weeds  of  the 
kind  known  as  Russian  thistle,  Canada  thistle  and  cocklebur  at  such  time 
as  the  township  Board  of  Supervisors  or  the  Board  of  County  Commission- 
ers may  direct."  The  time  chosen  and  the  method  of  destroying  weeds  is 
to  be  in  such  a  manner  as  to  "prevent  their  bearing  seed."  Every  road 
overseer  is  to  destroy  such  noxious  weeds  on  the  highways,  also  upon  adja- 
cent unoccupied  land  neglected  by  the  owners,  and  the  cost  of  the  latter 
service  is  to  become  a  lien  against  the  land. 

Any  land-owner  or  lessee  of  land  or  county  or  township  supervisor  or 
overseers  failing  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  law  shall  suffer 
various  fines  and  penalties,  said  fines  going  to  the  general  fund  of  the  county 
in  which  action  is  brought  by  the  State  or  District  Attorney. 

The  laws  of  North  Dakota  apply  to  mustard,  wild  oats  (Arena  fatua), 
"French  weeds"  (Th/aspi  qrvense),  as  well  as  the  Russian  thistle,  Canada- 
thistle  and  cocklebur.  Each  Board  of  County  Commissioners  are  ordered 
to  declare  the  time  and  manner  of  destroying  noxious  weeds  at  their  regular 
meetings  in  April  each  year,  and  their  rules  shall  be  published  in  the  news- 
papers or  posted  as  election  notices  are  posted.  In  case  of  neglect  or  re- 
fusal to  destroy  these  weeds  on  the  part  of  any  individual,  firm  or  corpora- 
tion owning  or  occupying  land,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  road  officers,  after 
ten  days,  to  destroy  the  same,  and  the  expense  becomes  a  separate  tax 
against  the  land,  to  be  made  a  part  of  the  next  tax-roll.  The  neglect  or  re- 
fusal of  any  road  officer  to  perform  this  work  subjects  him  to  a  fine  of  fifty 
dollars. 

The  laws  in  Ohio  are  very  complete.  An  act  of  February  17,  1884,  im- 
poses a  fine  of  twenty  dollars  upon  any  dealer  who  knowingly  sells  impure 
seed,  and  a  similar  fine  is  imposed  on  "  whoever,  being  the  owner,  occupyer 
or  possessor  of  any  land,"  suffers  weed-seed  to  ripen  thereon  or  on  the  high- 
way adjoining  the  same.  Another  Ohio  act  of  April  29,  1885,  gives  the 
township  trustees  power  to  destroy  noxious  weeds,  and  the  cost  is  collected 
from  the  owners  as  a  tax,  while  the  trustees  receive  one  dollar  a  day  for 
their  supervision.  A  much  more  complete  statute,  passed  April  25,  1893, 
requires  the  superintendent  of  roads,  county  supervisors  and  street  com- 
missioners to  destroy  "all  brush,  briers,  Canada  or  common  thistles,  or  other 
noxious  weeds  "  within  their  jurisdiction,  for  a  fortnight  in  each  of  the  three 
months  of  June,  August  and  September  of  each  year.  Any  farmer  who 
destroys  such  weeds  on  the  highway  fronting  his  ground  shall  be  allowed  a 
a  reasonable  compensation  credited  on  his  tax-list.  Any  road  company  who 
fails  to  do  this  work  shall  be  liable  for  the  costs,  together  with  one  hundred 
per  cent  penalty  together  with  the  cost  of  action.  Similar  provisions  ex- 
tend to  cities  and  incorporated  villages. 

California  Legislation. — There  are  no  laws  in  California  which  apply 
by  name  to  the  Russian  thistle,  but  there  are  laws  under  which  the  weeds 
can  be  eradicated.  Xhe  first  California  act  aimed  at  any  noxious  weed  was 
that  of  March  2,  1872,  which,  curiously  enough,  applied  only  to  Scotch,  or 
Canada,  thistle  in  the  counties  of  Humboldt,  Siskiyou,  Klamath,  Del  Norte 
and  Alameda.  The  act  made  it  unlawful  for  any  land-owner  to  permit  seed 
to  ripen  or  to  be  scattered  abroad,  or  to  knowingly  sell  any  seed  or  grain 
containing  thistle  seed.  It  imposed  a  fine  of  a  hundred  dollars  for  any  vio- 
lation, and  the  same  fine  upon  road  overseers  who  allowed  the  thistle  to  ma- 
ture along  the  highways. 

Section  28  of  the  County  Government  Act  of  March  14,  1883,  also  re- 
affirmed by  the  act  of  March  31,  1891,  and  again  in  1893,  ordains  that  super- 
visors have  the  power  to  provide  for  the  destruction  of  gophers,  squirrels. 


—  10  — 

other  wild  animals,  noxious  weeds,  and  insects  injurious  to  fruit-trees.  This 
is  the  law  under  which  work  must  be  done  at  the  present  time  wherever  the 
thistle  appears  outside  of  incorporated  towns.  It  is  sufficient  to  authorize 
extensive  and  well-considered  expenditures  of  public  funds  in  every  county 
of  California,  and  it  is  the  law  under  which  the  supervisors  of  Los  Angeles 
county  have  felt  themselves  justified  in  spending  money  in  the  Lancaster 
District.  The  term  "noxious  weeds  "  is  better  in  this  case  than  the  long  list 
of  names  of  weeds  incorporated  in  the  laws  of  some  of  the  other  States,  be- 
cause as  long  as  this  law  remains  in  force  every  new  weed  that  appears  can 
be  fought  at  once,  instead  of  waiting  for  especial  enactment. 

A  letter  received  May  2nd  from  Lancaster  states  that  the  Assistant 
District  Attorney  of  Los  Angeles  doubts  whether  the  county  has  a  right 
to  spend  money  to  destroy  weeds  except  on  public  roads  and  in  parks.  If 
this  view  is  sustained  by  the  courts,  the  result  will  be  disastrous  in  many 
districts,  but  the  intention  of  the  County  Government  Act  of  1893,  which  is 
still  in  force,  appears  very  plain,  and  if  any  difficulty  is  going  to  be  made, 
the  matter  should  be  taken  to  the  higher  court  by  the  County  Horticultural 
Commissioner  or  by  any  public  spirited  citizen.  Any  one  who  reads  the  law 
will  note  that  reference  is  made  in  the  same  clause  to  noxious  weeds  and  to 
insects  injurious  to  orchards.  Fruit  trees  certainly  are  seldom  or  never 
found  in  the  public  highway,  and  if  the  law  does  not  limit  the  power  of  the 
supervisors  in  this  respect,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  it  can  be  limited  in  re- 
gard to  noxious  weeds. 

Within  incorporated  towns,  the  California  Act  of  March  11th,  1893,  is 
in  operation.  This  act  provides  for  the  planting  and  caring  for  shade  trees 
in  towns,  and  for  the  eradication  of  weeds  therein.  It  provides  that  the 
city  council  or  trustees  of  any  municipality  "  may  condemn  as  public  nuis- 
ances any  and  all  weeds  whose  seeds  are  of  a  winged  or  downy  nature,  and 
are  spread  by  the  winds,"  and  they  may  compel  the  eradication  of  such 
weeds  by  the  owners  of  any  lot  upon  which  they  grow,  or  may  charge  the 
expense  against  said  owner.  This  law  also  will  be  of  great  service  although 
it  is  probable  that  stronger  penalties  should  be  attached,  not  only  in  the 
case  of  municipalities,  but  in  the  law  defining  the  powers  of  supervisors  in 
this  regard.  It  is  plain,  however,  that  there  need  be  no  difficulty  in  finding 
laws  under  which  to  organize  co-operative  efforts  to  destroy  the  Russian 
thistle. 

Appearance  in  California. — It  has  been  known  for  some  time  that 
the  thistle  had  obtained  a  foothold  in  California,  and  energetic  efforts  have 
been  made  to  destroy  it.  A  sample  of  the  weed  was  exhibited  at  the  Fruit 
Growers'  Convention  at  Sacramento  last  November,  and  excited  a  good 
deal  of  interest.  This  led  to  correspondence  with  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  The  following  letter  from  one  of  the  Government 
botanists  contains  a  good  deal  of  practical  information  : 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  ) 
Division  of  Botany,  > 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  25,  1985.  ) 
Prof.  K.   W,  Hilaard,  Director  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  Berkeley,  California: 

Dear  Sir:  During  the  past  two  weeks  the  Division  of  Botany  has  obtained  two 
specimens  of  the  Russian  thistle  from  Lancaster,  Los  Angeles  county,  California.  These 
specimens  confirm  the  report  previously  received  that  this  dangerous  weed  had  been  in- 
troduced at  that  place.  It  is  said  to  be  distributed  over  an  area  of  about  ten  miles  long 
and  four  or  five  miles  wide  in  the  desert  about  Lancaster,  and  to  be  most  abundant  about 
the  station  of  Lancaster  where  there  is  water. 

The  nature  of  the  surroundings  are  such  that  it  can  do  but  little  harm  where  it  is 
is  at  present.  Even  if  allowed  to  obtain  a  foothold,  it  might  not  become  more  trouble- 
some than  some  of  the  worst  weeds  you  have  at  present.  Its  behavior  in  the  irrigated 
lands  in  Colorado  and  in  southern  Idaho  indicated,  however,  that  if  allowed  to  spread,  it 
will  quickly  take  rank  with  your  most  troublesome  weeds  and  will  prove  itself  an  evil 
worthy  of  vigorous  repressive  measures.  In  its  present  condition  extermination  seems 
possible  and  even  practicable.     If  allowed   to  spread,  as  it  is  certain  to  do  within  two 


—  11  — 

years  if  left  undisturbed,  extermination  will  be  practically  impossible  and  a  continuous 
war  for  subjugation  will  have  to  be  waged  against  it  as  is  now  the  case  with  this  plant 
in  the  Dakotas,  and  with  ragweed,  ox-eye  daisy  and  wild  carrot  in  the  east.  Statements 
have  been  made  that  the  Russian  thistle  will  not  thrive  on  well  watered  and  well  tilled 
farms.  My  own  observations  of  this  plant  lead  me  to  think  that  it  will  thrive  in  such 
situations  as  well  and  even  better  than  in  dry  or  sterile  soil,  and  that  if  once  allowed  a 
foothold  on  such  farms,  it  is  likely  to  prove  as  troublesome  as  any  of  our  annual  weeds. 

Very  truly  yours, 

L.  H.  Dewet,  Assistant  Botanist. 

A  second  letter  from  Mr.  Dewey,  under  date  of  February  23rd,  adds 
that:  "  Information  has  been  received  chiefly  from  Mr.  John  Scott,  Com- 
missioner of  Horticulture,  Los  Angeles,  and  from  Mr.  Abbu  Dunning,  post- 
master at  Lancaster.  A  letter  just  received  from  Mr.  Scott  states  that 
he  has  unconfirmed  reports  of  the  Russian  thistle  south  of  Tulare  City  and 
also  between  Pixley  and  Tipton.  Mr.  A.  H.  Leckenby,  of  Bakersfield, 
writes  that  the  Russian  thistle  has  been  reported  as  growing  in  Kern 
county,  but  as  yet  he  has  been  unable  to  verify  the  report."  If  the  thistle 
is  indeed  established  south  of  Tulare  City,  it  must  be  some  distance  outside 
of  the  town  limits,  as  on  April  6th  the  writer,  together  with  Mr.  Julius 
Forrer,  foreman  of  the  Experiment  Station  near  Tulare,  made  a  careful  ex- 
amination of  the  railroad  tracks,  ditches  and  roadsides  in  and  around  the 
town  without  discovering  a  single  specimen  of  this  obnoxious  weed.  Later 
in  the  season  it  will  be  much  easier  to  discover  any  thistle  plants. 

While  corresponding  with  the  Department  at  Washington  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  Mr.  W.  S.  Melick,  proprietor  of  the  Lancaster  Gazette,  quite  an 
extensive  land  owner  in  Antelope  Valley,  was  especially  well  posted  upon 
the  subject,  and  he  placed  himself  at  the  service  of  the  Experiment  Sta- 
tion. 

Under  date  of  February  10th,  Mr.  Melick  wrote,  "You  can  do  nothing 
studying  the  Russian  thistle  until  later.  It  has  not  begun  to  grow  yet. 
About  April  or  May  would  be  the  time  to  see  it  here.  Our  altitude  makes 
all  crops  late.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  this  is  the  true  Russian  thistle. 
It  has  been  here  four  or  five  years,  but  it  has  not  spread  much.  This  is  a 
desert  town  surrounded  by  sage  brush,  so  the  thistles  which  grow  get 
lodged  in  the  sage  brush  and  do  not  travel  far. 

"  By  the  advice  of  Horticultural  Commissioner  Scott,  under  the  Board 
of  Supervisors,  all  last  year's  crop  has  been  burned.  As  the  land  about 
Lancaster  is  not  farmed  much,  few  farmers  are  bothered  with  it  as  yet. 
I  think  the  only  way  to  get  rid  of  it  is  by  prompt,  vigilant  action  of  Boards 
of  Supervisors  or  the  State  authorities." 

Visit  to  Antelope  Valley. — In  accordance  with  Mr.  Melick's  sugges- 
tion, the  writer  waited  until  some  growth  had  been  made  before  visiting 
the  infected  district.  April  3d  and  4th  was  spent  in  the  town  of  Lancaster 
and  its  immediate  vicinity.  The  area  over  which  the  weed  to  some  extent 
prevails  extends  over  about  eleven  sections  of  land.  As  noted  by  Mr.  Me- 
lick, it  first  appeared  in  the  streets  of  the  town  near  the  railroad  track, 
several  years  ago,  probably  brought  in  by  cattle  cars,  as  there  is  very  little 
immigration  by  wagons  across  that  district.  The  weed  naturally  attracted 
little  attention  at  first,  but  by  last  year  it  excited  a  good  deal  of  alarm, 
and  Mr.  Melick  and  others  began  to  organize  public  work.  The  County  Su- 
pervisors wisely  agreed  to  spend  some  money,  and  men  have  worked  more  or 
less  during  the  last  winter  burning  the  old  weeds,  and  are  now  harrowing 
under  the  young  plants  wherever  they  appear.  About  $400  has  been  spent 
in  this  manner.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  work  merits  the  ap- 
proval and  hearty  support  of  every  citizen  and  newspaper  in  Los  Angeles 
county.  If  the  expenditure  of  ten  thousand  dollars  would  utterly  destroy 
the  Russian  thistle  in  the  Antelope  Valley,  it  would  be  a  good  investment. 

The  country  which  may  be  termed  the  present  headquarters  of  theRus 


—  12  — 

sian  thistle  in  California,  is  a  level  plain  of  rich,  sandy  soil  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  famous  artesian  belt  of  Antelope  Valley.  Antelope  Valley 
lies  along  the  borders  of  Kern,  south  of  the  Tehachipi,  and  north  of  the  La 
Liebre  Mountains.  It  contains  1 100  square  miles  of  territory,  and  has  an 
average  elevation  of  2600  feet.  Although  the  rainfall  is  light,  the  valley 
contains  a  nnmber  of  colonies  irrigated  from  streams  and  reservoirs,  a  fa- 
mous grain  belt  of  seventy  thousand  acres  lying  along  the  southwestern 
hills,  and  the  artesian  belt  to  which  I  have  already  referred.  A  large  area 
is  undoubtedly  incapable  of  irrigation,  and  receives  too  little  rain  to  make 
it  reclaimable.  If  the  Russian  thistle  extends  over  these  waste  and  barren 
sections  along  the  middle  of  the  valley  and  extending  east  into  the  Mojave  and 
the  Colorado  deserts,  or  if  it  escapes  into  the  mountain  canyons,  its  entire 
destruction  will  become  impossible.  But  it  can  certainly  be  conquered  in 
all  the  colonies  and  plow-lands.  It  can  also  be  choked  out  in  every  well- 
grown  alfalfa  field. 

The  first  offshoot  from  the  original  thistle  colony  has  already  appeared 
about  ten  miles  west,  in  sections  25  and  25,  township  7,  range  14.  This  is 
in  the  edge  of  the  grain  belt,  and  unless  destroyed  the  thistle  will  soon  ap- 
pear along  the  whole  line  of  the  foothills.  The  wheat  grown  here  is  of  the 
finest  quality,  and  much  of  it  is  hauled  out  through  the  Tejon  Pass.  It  is 
also  shipped  to  Los  Angeles  and  other  points  along  the  railroad.  If  every 
farmer  takes  pains  to  plant  only  clean  seed,  and  if  the  rolling  weeds  are 
destroyed,  this  small  colony  will  soon  disappear  under  close  cultivation.  But 
directly  west  lie  the  pastured  foothills  and  the  mountains  that  surround 
Elizabeth  Lake.  There  is,  therefore,  extreme  danger  that  the  weed  may 
soon  become  naturalized  in  this  thinly  settled  mountain  region,  which 
extends  all  the  way  to  Ventura.  Immediate  action  is  therefore  neces- 
sary. 

Returning  to  the  original  thistle  colony,  at  Lancaster,  the  artesian  belt 
covers  about  eighty-eight  square  miles,  and  already  contains  eighty-three 
flowing  wells.  But  these  are  scattered,  the  region  being  still  thinly  settled, 
and  one  often  finds  a  few  acres  of  alfalfa,  grain  or  orchard  surrounded  by 
native  desert.  The  sagebrush,  and  other  shrubby  growths  standing  up  on 
little  mounds  of  sand  and  the  belts  of  tree  yuccas,  have  served  the  excellent 
purpose  of  preventing  the  thistle-heads  from  moving  far  or  rapidly,  even 
under  the  wildest  gales.  Perhaps  from  this  reason  the  thistle  seems  very 
thickly  sown  in  some  portions  of  the  infected  district.  There  are  places  in 
the  streets  of  the  town  where  the  slender,  reddish  leaves  of  the  plant,  much 
resembling  a  young  pine,  almost  cover  the  ground.  It  is  very  easily  des- 
troyed, however,  with  harrow  or  cultivator.  The  well-grown  alfalfa  fields 
seem  to  be  little  troubled,  but  where  there  is  a  poor  stand  the  thistle  is 
coming  up.  Excellent  work  has  been  done  by  the  employees  of  the  county 
supervisors,  and  it  is  now  difficult  to  find  a  single  specimen  of  last  year's 
weeds.  In  the  town  itself  al1  the  young  plants  can  easily  be  reached 
and  destroyed.  On  the  uncultivated  territory  the  case  is  much  more 
difficult. 

Another  letter  received  from  Mr.  Melick  early  in  May  encloses  samples 
of  the  thistle  after  about  six  weeks'  growth.  They  have  begun  to  branch 
strongly,  are  about  six  inches  high,  and  becoming  too  hard  for  even  sheep 
to  nibble.  Mr.  Melick  says  the  young  plants  are  extremely  abundant,  but 
can  be  very  destroyed  between  now  and  the  first  of  August.  He  thinks  six 
hundred  dollars  spent  now  would  ensure  the  destruction  of  every  plant  in 
the  valley,  but  he  says  there  ought  to  be  no  delay,  for  it  is  spreading.  The 
weed  has  now  been  found  along  the  Armagosa  Creek  wash,  which  extends 
from  Lancaster  south  along  the  railroad  for  about  five  miles,  and  then 
stretches  off  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to  the  Leonis  Valley  in  township 
5  N.,  range  13  W.  The  late  rains  have  caused  unusual  growth,  and  there 
is  no  time  to  lose  if  Los  Angeles  county  is  going  to  protect  the  colony  dis- 


—  13  — 

tricts.     As   Mr.  Melick  aptly  says,    "A  public  sentiment   will    have  to  be 
created." 

Distribution  from  Antelope  Valley.-— At  first  thought  Antelope 
Valley  appears  to  be  some  distance  from  main  lines  of  travel,  and  a  point 
from  which  distribution  will  be  slow  and  difficult.  On  the  contrary,  few 
points  in  the  State  are  more  immediately  dangerous.  There  is  a  strong 
probability  that  the  thistle  has  already  been  carried  southward  along  the 
line  of  the  railroad  into  San  Fernando  Valley,  and  the  branch  railread  from 
that  point  affords  easy  access  to  Ventura  and  Santa  Barbara.  In  a  very 
short  time,  unless  controlled,  the  weed  will  move  eastward  to  the  line  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  northward  into  the  San  Joaquin.  In  fact,  it  has 
already  crossed  the  Tehachipi  range,  and  has  made  it  appearance  in  Kern 
county.  A  letter  received  from  Mr.  G.  F.  Weeks,  editor  of  the  Daily  ("all 
fornum  of  Bakersfield,  says:  'v  It  is  growing  here,  from  seed  evidently  scat- 
tered from  cars  that  have  come  through  Nebraska  or  some  other  infected 
section,  as  at  present  it  is  only  found  along  the  railroad  tracks."  As  previ- 
ously explained,  however,  the  thistle  may  have  reached  Kern  county  by  way 
of  the  Tejon  Pass,  through  which  there  is  a  great  deal  of  travel  to  and  from 
the  Antelope  Valley,  but  it  is  evident  that  the  same  cause  which  once  brought 
the  weed  to  California  is  likely  to  continue  in  force,  and  we  may  expect  it 
to  appear  in  many  parts  of  the  State.  Judging  from  the  experience  of  South 
Dakota,  it  is  probably  already  growing  unsuspected  by  many  a  roadside  and 
in  many  a  pasture. 

During  the  present  season  every  effort  should  be  made  to  locate  the 
various  points  of  affection  in  both  northern  and  southern  California,  and  de- 
termine their  areas.  The  only  dependence  in  the  determined  warfare  that 
must  now  be  made  must  be  upon  thorough  local  organization.  If  farmers 
will  destroy  the  weed  upon  cultivated  land,  and  if  the  county  authorities 
will  destroy  it  by  the  roadsides  and  over  uncultivated  places,  the  railroads 
and  other  corporations  will  probably  be  willing  to  do  their  share.  The  rail- 
road companies,  irrigation  companies  and  similar  corporations  have  a  large 
interest  in  the  matter,  but  the  whole  community  must  be  aroused,  or  the 
work  will  not  be  done. 

Siooested  Remedies. — Since  the  plant   is  an  annual  it  is  easily  killed 
during  the  growing  season.     For  three  months  from  the  time  it  sprouts  no 
good  farmer  need  be  afraid  of  it,  but,  according  to  Dakota  experience,  con 
certed  action  is  necessary.     The  fundamental  principle  of  the  conflict  must 
be:    No  Russian  thistle  should  he  allowed  to  produce  seed. 

The  vitality  of  the  seed,  as  compared  with  other  annuals,  appears  to  be 
low.  The  conditions  affecting  seed  vitality  are  moisture  and  heat.  The 
seeds  of  this  plant  crack,  and  the  germ  is  destroyed  by  a  low  degree  of  dry 
heat,  hence  when  stubble  and  pasture  fields  are  burned  over  in  the  autumn 
the  larger  part  of  the  thistle  seed  will  be  kept  from  germinating. 

The  tap-root  will  not  sprout  again  when  cut  at  the  surface,  and  if  the 
plants  are  plowed  under  they  perish  as  easily  as  mallows.  In  orchards, 
vineyards,  beet-fields,  and  all  lands  devoted  to  hoed  crops,  there  should  be 
no  trouble,  with  respectable  cultivation.  But  if  a  farmer  stops  at  the  lim 
its  of  his  cultivated  land,  he  must  do  the  same  work  every  year.  Fence- 
corners,  creek-borders,  and  waste  places  of  every  description,  must  receive 
the  same  attention,  or  the  Russian  thistle  will  again  seed  the  fields.  The 
slipshod  cultivation  so  often  seen  even  in  the  most  fertile  parts  of  Califor- 
nia, and  perhaps  endurable  with  less  aggressive  weeds,  though  never  ad 
visable,  or  profitable,  becomes  entirely  impracticable  after  the  Russian 
thistle  once  obtains  foothold. 

The  Minnesota  Experiment  Station  bulletin  lays  great  stress  on  upon 


—  14  — 

the  use  of  what  is  called  the  "green-manure  fallow"  in  cultivated  lands. 
Modified  to  suit  California  conditions,  this  means  to  plow  shallow  with  the 
first  rains,  and  sow  bur-clover  or  some  similar  crop,  to  plow  under,  with 
the  young  thistles,  for  a  green  crop  fertilizer.  After  the  last  plowing  one 
must  go  over  the  field  and  hoe  out  any  stray  plant. 

If  the  thistle  is  found  in  grain  fields  it  would  be  better  to  cut  for  hay  as 
early  as  possible  and  plow  the  stubble  under,  without  waiting  for  the  after- 
math. A  second  plowing  may  also  be  necessary.  In  most  sections  this  sys- 
tem will  clear  the  grain  fields  in  two  seasons,  if  no  seeds  are  allowed  to  blow 
into  the  fields. 

As  soon  as  the  grain  crop  is  harvested  the  stubble  and  weeds  should  be 
burned  in  every  case  where  the  thistle  has  appeared.  In  our  dry  climate 
this  is  always  easy,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  use  of  a  header,  as 
leaving  a  greater  amount  of  stubble,  furnishes  the  material  for  more  thor- 
ough burning.  Especial  attention  should  be  paid  to  any  patches  in  the  grain 
fields  where  a  poor  stand  of  grain  has  allowed  the  thistle  to  develop  into 
large  "  tumblers." 

Well-graded  highways  are  easily  kept  clean  by  dressings  with  a  revers- 
ible road  machine,  and  by  vigorous  use  of  the  hoe  on  the  narrow  borders. 
Wide,  unutilized  road-spaces  are  difficult  to  deal  with,  and  often  will  have 
to  be  plowed  and  cultivated.  Attention  should  be  paid  to  the  road  ditches, 
whose  sides  should  be  so  sloping  that  they  can  easily  be  cleaned  from  top  to 
bottom.  Along  infested  highways  the  cultivation  should  extend  to  the 
wheel-tracks.  The  scythe  seldom  cuts  low  enough,  as  the  thistle  branches 
so  close  to  the  ground  that  many  seeds  will  be  left.  Burning  is  preferable, 
or  the  hoe.  Professor  Bolley  says:  "  A  small  force  of  workmen  is  suffi- 
cient to  destroy  all  the  weeds  upon  road  margins  of  the  worst  infested  town- 
ships. A  foreman  on  horseback  constantly  inspecting  the  work  of  a  dozen 
men  can  rapidly  get  over  the  country." 

In  order  to  prevent  the  large  weeds  from  rolling,  the  Russians  plant 
belts  of  sunflowers  which  stop  the  plants,  collecting  them  in  high  banks,  and 
they  are  then  burned.  Belts  of  trees,  or  any  other  windbreaks,  answer  the 
same  purpose,  as  do  fences,  excepting  that  the  weeds  must  be  raked  back 
so  as  not  to  injure  trees  or  fence  when  fire  is  set.  This,  of  course,  is  expen- 
sive, on  a  large  scale,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  time  to  fight  the 
thistle  is  when  it  can  still  be  plowed  under.  In  Dakota  the  farmers  harness 
ten  or  twelve  horses  by  long  ropes  to  immense  bars  of  wood,  and  drag  very 
large  piles  of  the  weeds  into  heaps  to  burn.  Any  work  of  this  kind  should 
be  followed  by  burning  the  stubble,  and  by  two  plowings  before  another 
crop.     Our  system  of  managing  orchards  gives  us  every  advantage. 

In  cities,  towns  and  villages  special  care  is  needed,  not  only  on  the 
streets  and  sidewalks,  but  upon  all  the  unoccupied  lots.  In  California,  as 
in  the  Northwest,  the  points  of  infection  usually  begin  at  or  near  the  rail- 
road station,  and  the  townspeople  and  merchants  should  make  stringent 
regulations  to  suppress  the  thistle  at  its  first  appearance,  and  not  allow  it 
to  escape  into  the  farming  country  to  lessen  the  value  of  town  property. 
The  owners  of  lots  should  combine  and  break  up  every  neglected  piece  of 
ground,  sowing  it  to  alfalfa,  or,  where  water  cannot  be  obtained,  to  such  a 
plant  as  the  Australian  salt  bush  (Atriplex  semibaccatum.)  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  this  would  make  our  towns  and  villages  look  much  neater.  A  town 
ordinance  could  tax  non-residents  for  such  necessary  improvements,  and 
town  trustees  have  the  power  to  pass  such  an  ordinance. 

When  the  Department  of  Agriculture  sent  out  circular  letters  for  in- 
formation, one  question  read  "In  what  manner  was  the  Russian  thistle  in- 
troduced ?"  The  bulk  of  the  answers  were  "By  the  wind,"  and  "In  im- 
pure seed."     Considering  the  second  cause,  it  may  be  said  that  many  small 


—  15  — 

threshers  do  not  thoroughly  clean  the  grain,  and  thistle  seeds,  or  pieces  of 
stem  containing  seeds,  may  easily  find  their  way  into  the  sacks  and  be  sowed 
again  the  following  season.  Poor  (or  careless)  farmers  who  buy  cheap  grades 
of  seed  grain,  or  flax,  or  clover,  or  millet,  may  obtain  a  liberal  stand  of  thistles 
without  extra  charge.  The  papery  flower-parts  of  a  thistle  seed  often  ad- 
here even  after  passing  through  a  threshing  machine,  so  the  mass  varies 
considerably,  from  naked  seeds  as  large  as  a  clover  and  about  half  as  heavy, 
to  pieces  the  size  of  a  melon  seed.  If  the  fans  are  properly  adjusted,  thistle 
seeds  can  be  blown  out  even  from  flax  or  clover,  but  it  is  much  more  difficult 
to  separate  them  from  grains  of  millet.  Fortunately,  the  California  farmers 
do  not  grow  millet  extensively,  but  we  raise  a  good  deal  of  flax  for  oil,  and 
the  coast  districts  devoted  to  that  crop  should  pay  special  attention  to  the 
subject  of  sowing  only  clean  seed. 

Some  G-eneral  Considerations. — From  the  preceding  pages,  the 
reader  will  conclude  that  while  the  Russian  thistle  is  dangerous,  it  can  be 
conquered  by  persistent  work.  Many  other  weeds  when  well  established 
furnish  more  trying  problems  to  the  individual  farmer.  The  small  morning 
glory,  or  wild  convolvulus,  of  our  rich  bottom-lands  is  infinitely  harder  to 
destroy. 

We  may  classify  all  weeds  from  the  cultural  standpoint  as  either  an- 
nuals, biennials,  perennials  with  underground,  creeping  root-stocks,  and 
perennials  without  creeping  rootstocks  (rootstocks  are  underground  stems 
with  buds).  In  order  to  know  how  to  fight  a  dangerous  weed  it  is  first  nec- 
essary to  study  its  root  system  and  method  of  propagation,  and  then  the 
proper  measures  to  exterminate  the  weed  can  readily  be  ascertained.  To 
some  extent  these  classes  intermingle  ;  a  weed  which  is  an  annual  in  one 
country,  owing  to  climatic  conditions,  may  be  a  biennial  or  a  perennial  in 
another  country ;  but  the  root  system  offers  a  more  stable  basis  of  com- 
parison. The  annuals  can  be  again  divided  into  those  which  ordinarily  live 
and  die  in  the  same  place,  and  those  "  tumble-weeds,"  such  as  the  subject 
of  this  bulletin,  which  traverse  a  considerable  region  before  their  power  for 
mischief  has  come  to  an  end. 

Decidedly  the  most  troublesome  class  of  ordinary  weeds  are  those  peren- 
nials with  permanent  roots,  whether  creeping  or  not.  The  ordinary  species 
of  Rumex  (the  common  docks  of  our  fields),  the  plantains,  the  ox-eye  daisy 
(Leucanthemum  vulgare),  and  the  golden-rods,  are  illustrations  of  one  type, 
while  the  wild  morning-glory,  the  wild  licorice  (Glycyrrhiza  lepidota),  the 
Canada  thistle  and  the  ordinary  mint  have  the  horizontal  rootstocks,  which, 
as  previously  stated,  are  really  creeping  underground  stems,  every  joint  of 
which  will  make  a  new  plant. 

Lines  op  Further  Work. — Now  that  we  know  of  the  presence  of  the 
Russian  thistle  in  California,  and  have  the  experience  of  other  States  to 
guide  us,  it  should  be  our  first  duty  to  map  out  the  areas  of  distribution,  no 
matter  how  small.  The  Experiment  Station  invites  farmers,  land-owners, 
road  overseers,  supervisors,  and  all  persons  interested  in  the  agricultural 
welfare  of  California,  to  send  samples  of  weeds  suspected  to  be  the  Russian 
thistle  to  the  director,  Professor  E.  W.  Hilgard,  for  determination.  We 
invite  further  correspondence  on  the  subject,  and  in  all  cases  where  it  seems 
advisable  a  representative  of  this  department  will  go  to  any  part  of  the 
State,  either  to  identify  and  map  out  suspected  infection  centers,  or  to  de- 
liver a  lecture  to  the  people.  By  the  close  of  this  summer  we  ought  to  know 
fairly  well  whether  the  thistle  has  entered  the  State  by  way  of  Nevada  and 
Oregon,  in  which  case  it  is  already  in  the  Sierra  foothils  and  in  the  Sacra- 
mento Valley.     If  the  only  colonies  we  now  have  are  those  extending  from 


—  18  — 

Lancaster  an  energetic  campaign  ought  to  conquer  the  enemy.  While  de- 
voting attention  to  the  great  interior  valleys,  however,  we  should  not  neg- 
lect to  study  the  smaller  coast  valleys,  where  the  use  of  impure  seed  may 
have  already  established  unsuspected  plantations.  In  short,  it  behooves 
us  to  examine  every  portion  of  the  State,  and  there  is  no  county  whose  su- 
pervisors should  not  be  prepared  to  take  active  measures  of  self-defense. 


J.  F.  HAL  LOR  AN, 
1320  Market  Street,  San  Francisco 


